Ballabriggs is about to have his work schedule stepped up a gear in preparation for one or two outings before bidding for back-to-back successes in the Grand National.
The 11-year-old’s trainer Donald McCain has pinpointed Kelso’s Premier Chase on March 3 as Ballabriggs’ last run before his April 14 date at Aintree, as it was ahead of his 2011 National triumph under Jason Maguire.
But Haydock’s Rendlesham Hurdle could precede that if McCain feels two runs are necessary for Ballabriggs to be at his absolute peak as he tries to become only the eighth horse in history to win the National on more than one occasion.
“We are just at the stage when he’s starting fast work again. We know him well, he’s very exciting and of course the National is the biggest day of the year for us,” McCain said.
“Ballabriggs is the most gorgeous old-fashioned chaser you could possibly wish for, and we were lucky to find a route we could plan by going back to hurdling last season.
“He’d strained a ligament in his back and was off for 12 months, he was very sore and it stopped him.
“But now he’s rated 150 over hurdles and is a 160-rated chaser so there’s not many races you can go for. Ideally though, I would prefer two runs before he goes back to Aintree.”
McCain insists Kelso’s extended two-mile-six-furlong (4400m) contest is of paramount importance.
“We ran Cloudy Lane in it and Balla finished second in the race last season. Going back there is Plan A and that will be his final run before the National,” he said.
“I don’t know whether he will have another run before then. We’ll just wait until we get a bit closer before deciding.”
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